EP0521795B1 - Cooking utensil with an unremovable grip - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a cooking utensil with a handle, such as a saucepan, a frying pan, a frying pan or dish for a raclette appliance or the like.

The invention relates more particularly to a cooking utensil comprising a container provided with a metal tip forming an insert by force engagement in an elongated recess of a handle made of thermally insulating material, the insert comprising anchoring means suitable for ensuring fixing it inside the recess.

EP-A-0 070 205 from the applicant discloses a cooking utensil on which the handle is fixed by a device comprising a metal stud force-fitted into a metal rivet secured to the body of the utensil. The rivet is deformed in a hole in the stud under the effect of a force applied axially to the rivet. This type of fastening, very reliable, however requires the application of a relatively large force to cause the deformation of the stud, which here acts as an insert.

DE-A-2 445 498 also discloses a method of attachment for a joystick, in which a cylindrical endpiece has anchoring points intended to penetrate both the wall of the handle and those of the brush during fixing which is done, here too, by force engagement. The withdrawal of the handle out of the brush only supposes a tearing force substantially equal to that necessary for pressing in to subject the points anchored in the brush to reverse deformation and cancel the anchoring effect. However, this force is relatively easy to apply because the handle offers a good grip.

These two methods of attachment, cited as examples of the known technique, have as a principle the engagement by force of an insert provided with anchoring means, these anchoring means being such that they deform with a anchoring effect during force engagement and they undergo a reverse deformation canceling the anchoring effect when a tensile force is applied which tends to separate the two parts. If the tensile force is equivalent to the force which was necessary to drive it in, the two parts are separated.

The known fixing methods, of the aforementioned type, also have the drawback of requiring several pieces that are independent of the body of the utensil and of the handle. This is inevitable when the bore intended to receive the insert cannot be made directly in the handle. Thus, the fixing device according to the aforementioned EP - A - 0 070 205 comprises, in its various embodiments, a stud, a rivet and possibly a ball or a washer.

Also known from AU - B - 417 138, a cooking utensil comprising a container provided with a tip forming an insert by force engagement in an elongated recess of a handle made of thermally insulating material, the insert comprising means of anchoring suitable for fixing it inside the recess. However, this method of attachment requires creating at the bottom of the recess a tongue which is inserted between two branches of the insert.

The object of the present invention is to propose in a culinary utensil a method of fixing the handle which is simple, with machining operations reduced to a minimum and rapid assembly, the handle having to be irremovable once mounted.

The cooking utensil according to the invention thus comprises a receptacle provided with a metal tip forming an insert by force engagement in an elongated recess of a handle made of thermally insulating material, the insert comprising anchoring means suitable for ensuring fixing it inside the recess. According to the invention, this culinary utensil is characterized in that the anchoring means comprise a leg deformable, the length of which is greater than the diameter of the recess of the handle, this tab being folded back when the insert is in place in the recess, so that the axis of the tab forms an acute angle with the longitudinal axis of the recess, and in that, when the insert is subjected to a tensile force outside the recess, said tab deforms to a position in which it is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the recess, in accentuating the anchoring effect in the wall of the recess of the handle.

The anchoring effect is not based here on the deformation of the anchoring means during the insertion, as is the case in the known fixing means. In the cooking utensil according to the invention, the anchoring effect of the insert in the recess of the handle is only initiated during the force engagement and it is during an axial traction force. , tending to separate the two parts, which are deformed by the anchoring means by sinking further into the wall of the recess. One thus obtains an irreversible fixation which rests on a dynamic principle, according to which the cause generates itself the effect which combats it. An advantage derived from the fact that it is not necessary to obtain a deformation of the anchoring means during the insertion is that it can be carried out with a relatively negligible force, without it being necessary to use a vibrating press or hammer.

The configuration of the insert, in which the deformable anchoring means consist of an end tab of the insert, is both simple to perform and particularly effective since in response to a tensile force tending to dissociate the utensil and its handle, the tab will brace and anchor more in the wall of the handle, thus irreversibly locking the insert in the handle.

According to a particularly advantageous characteristic, the insert is made in one piece with all of the means ensuring its attachment to the handle.

No additional part is therefore necessary to make this fixing irreversibly.

In an optimal embodiment, the insert is made of steel and the handle made of a thermally insulating material such as wood or a plastic material that is malleable enough to lend itself to the forced insertion of the insert and to constitute a surface of 'hanging for the latter.

Due to the elasticity of steel, the means deformable anchors can compensate, by a spring effect, for any variation in the dimension of the bore likely to occur when two elements made of materials with different coefficient of expansion are subjected to thermal stresses, as is the case for utensils culinary.

Other features and advantages of the invention will appear in the description below.

• la figure 1 est une coupe longitudinale d'une poignée à fixer sur l'insert métallique constitué par l'embout d'un ustensile culinaire conforme à l'invention,
• la figure 2 est une vue agrandie du détail A de la figure 1,
• la figure 3 est une vue en bout de l'insert métallique de la figure 2,
• la figure 4 est une vue de la plaque métallique à partir de laquelle est réalisé l'insert,
• la figure 5 est une vue analogue à la figure 2, mais la poignée étant fixée sur l'ustensile culinaire.

In the appended drawings given by way of nonlimiting examples:

• FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section of a handle to be fixed on the metal insert constituted by the end piece of a cooking utensil according to the invention,
• FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of detail A of FIG. 1,
• FIG. 3 is an end view of the metal insert of FIG. 2,
• FIG. 4 is a view of the metal plate from which the insert is made,
• Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 2, but the handle being attached to the cooking utensil.

Referring to Figure 1, the cooking utensil comprises a metal container 1 on the outer wall of which is fixed, by welding, riveting or any other suitable means, an elongated metal tip 2 intended to be force-fitted into an elongated cylindrical recess 3, of axis YY ', formed, for example by drilling, in the body of a handle 4. The latter is made of a thermally insulating and relatively malleable material, such as wood or polypropylene, to be suitable for 'force introduction of the nozzle 2 and constitute a hooking surface for the latter.

The end piece 2, hereinafter referred to as "the insert" 2, is made in one piece from a steel plate 20, chosen for its hardness and elasticity properties, necessary for the insert performs the functions that were assigned to it devolved by the invention. The plate 20 has been cut, as seen in Figure 4, to form a body 5, of generally rectangular shape, provided at its front end with a tab 6 located in the extension of the axis XX 'of the body 5 The tab 6 has a length L at least equal to half the width 1 of the body 5. The parallel edges 2a, 2b of the latter have teeth 7. The thickness of the plate 20, less than 1 mm, has was chosen so that the teeth 7 are penetrating and to give the insert the relative flexibility necessary on the one hand for its elastic expansion against the walls of the recess 3, and on the other hand for the deformation of the tab 6 d end, during the axial displacement of the insert 2 in the recess 3 of the handle.

After cutting, the plate 20 is stamped to conform the body 5 into a trough of substantially U-shaped cross section (see FIG. 3), with a spacing D between the parallel edges 2a, 2b slightly greater than the diameter d of the cylindrical recess 3 of the handle.

Before engagement of the insert 2 in the recess 3, the tab 6 is folded in a direction substantially perpendicular to the axis XX 'of the body 5. It can be seen in FIG. 2 that the length L of the tab 6 is greater than the diameter d of the recess 3 of the handle 4. Due to the relative flexibility of the steel used, action on the free end 62 of the tab 6 in the longitudinal direction of the insert 2, results in a pivoting of the tab 6 around an axis ZZ 'perpendicular to the axis XX' of the body 5 of the insert and passing substantially through its point of attachment 61 at the end of said body 5. This pivoting takes place between two positions in which the free end 62 of the tab is respectively spaced (fig. 1 and 2) or close (fig. 5) from the body 5 of the insert 2. The front end edge of the body 5 which carries the tab 6 has been bevelled on either side of it to facilitate its folding back into the close position of the body 5.

The insert 2 thus formed is forcibly engaged in the recess 3 of the handle, compressing the walls 50 of the body 5 forming a chute, the edges 2a, 2b possibly overlapping. Once in place, said walls 50 bear elastically against the walls of the recess 3, with a tendency towards separation favored by the elasticity of the steel. The body 5 of the insert therefore marries the walls of the recess 3 in a tight fit, surface against surface, reinforced by the action of the steel teeth 7 which bite into the walls of wood or a relatively plastics material. malleable of the recess 3. These cohesive forces between the insert 2 and the recess 3 of the handle are supplemented by the locking action of the tab 6 inside the handle 4, action which is will now explain with reference to Figures 2 and 5.

When inserting the insert 2 into the recess 3, the tab 6 folds back, as shown in FIG. 5, into its position close to the body 5 of the insert 2, just enough to allow engagement with force of the insert 2: the height h of the tab 6, measured perpendicular to the axis XX 'of the body of the insert, then corresponds substantially to the diameter d of the recess 3. Arrival at the end of the course at the end 10 of the recess 3, the tab 6 is clamped against the relatively malleable wall of the recess. Due to the elasticity of the steel, the tab 6 tends to return to its initial position, in extension of the axis of the body 5, which initiates the anchoring effect in the wall of the recess. If a tensile force is applied to extract the insert 2 from the recess 3, the free end 61 of the tab 6 will penetrate, because of its sharp angles profile, into this relatively malleable wall, d 'as deeper as the tab 6 moves away from the body 5 of the insert: the height h of the tab 6, measured perpendicular to the axis XX' of the body of the insert or at the axis YY ′ of the recess, is then greater than the diameter d of the recess 3 and tends to approach the length L of the tab. The wall of the recess 3, however, provides sufficient resistance to this penetration to oppose the spacing of the tab 6 from the body 5 of the insert and the withdrawal of the latter from the recess 3. This opposition increases with the tensile force exerted on the outer part of the insert 2 or on the container 1 which is attached to it.

There is thus obtained, with the cooking utensil according to the invention, a simple, economical and extremely reliable method of fixing the insulating handle because the insert, produced in one piece, carries its own fixing means. in the handle, that no member for securing the two parts is external and therefore liable to deteriorate and finally that the anchoring means constituted by the deformable end of the insert is all the more effective as the greater pulling force to extract the insert from the handle.

In a simplified embodiment of the invention, the parallel edges of the body of the insert may not include indentations. These edges could be contiguous, the body of the insert then forming a complete cylinder, provided that a space is provided to allow the pivoting of the tab between two positions in which its free end is respectively moved away or closer to the body of the mouthpiece.

The body of the insert could be only very slightly curved or even substantially planar, its width then corresponding substantially to a cord or a diameter of the recess of the handle. In this case, the indentations would be advantageously oriented so as not to hinder the introduction of the insert into the housing but on the contrary to oppose its removal. The entrance to the recess could be closed by a cylindrical cover sliding on the substantially planar insert.

Claims (6)

1. A cooking utensil comprising a receptacle (1) provided with a metal extension which forms an insert (2) by force-fitting in an elongate recess (3) in a handle (4) of thermally insulating material, the insert (2) comprising anchoring means adapted to secure it inside the recess (3), characterised in that the anchoring means comprise a deformable lug (6), the length (L) of which is greater than the diameter (d) of the recess (3) of the handle, said lug being bent over when the insert (2) is in place in the recess (3), in such manner that the axis of the lug (6) forms an acute angle with the longitudinal axis (YY') of the recess (3), and in that when the insert (2) is subjected to a tractive force to remove it from the recess (3) the lug (6) is deformed into a position in which it is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis (YY') of the recess (3), thus accentuating the anchoring effect in the wall of the recess (3) of the handle (4).
2. A cooking utensil according to claim 1, characterised in that the insert (2) comprises an elongate body (5) having the said deformable lug (6) at its end, the axis of the lug (6) forming an acute angle with the axis of the insert body (5) when the insert (2) is in place in the recess (3), the lug (6) moving away from the insert body (5) when an axial tractive force is applied to the insert (2).
3. A cooking utensil according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the insert (2) is made in one piece with the means (2a, 2b, 6, 7) which secure it to the handle (4).
4. A cooking utensil according to claim 2 or 3, characterised in that the body (5) of the insert (2) is shaped as a substantially U-shaped cross-section channel, the walls (50) of which bear resiliently against the walls of the recess (3) of the handle with a tendency to diverge.
5. A cooking utensil according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterised in that the edges (2a, 2b) of the walls (50) of the body (5) of the insert (2) comprise teeth (7).
6. A cooking utensil according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterised in that the insert (2) is made of steel and the handle (4) is made of a thermally insulating material such as wood or a plastic sufficiently malleable to allow force-fitting of the insert (2) and form an engagement surface for the latter.

Images